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Ayden Jacob, MD, MSc

The Clinical Value of AI: A Patient's Journey (Part Two)

This is the second and final portion of a two-part series on AI and the patient journey in which Ayden Jacob, Aidoc’s Director of Health Economics and Outcomes of Clinical AI, outlines clinical case examples that showcase the integral role AI can play in improving patient treatment paths. Click here to read part one.

At the beginning of 2023, our CEO Elad Walach predicted that the value of healthcare AI would continue to be realized, leading the cutting-edge technology to touch up to 50% of providers within the year. While quantifiable outcomes such as the financial ROI of AI help bring that to fruition, a compelling (and far from secondary) benefit of AI is its potential to positively impact the patient journey.

Clinical Case 2: Can AI Save Your Life?

Jasmine is a 71-year-old female with a history of atrial fibrillation and type 2 diabetes. She lives alone in a rural town in southern Virginia. At 7:00 AM she begins feeling dizzy, and by 11:00 AM she calls paramedics due to weakness in her right leg and hand. She is brought to the local community hospital, and the appropriate head imaging studies are acquired. 

Without AI

The on-call neuroradiologist reads Jasmine’s images within 48 minutes. She is diagnosed with an ischemic stroke. The neuroradiologist promptly notifies the ED physician. A case coordinator and the ED physician reach out to two academic medical centers with stroke centers. The neurointerventionalist at Hospital A gathers pertinent clinical information from the referring ED physician, and begins reviewing Jasmine’s images on his PACS system. In the interim, the ED physician calls the stroke team at Hospital B, but is informed they are at full capacity. 89 minutes go by, and the stroke team at Hospital A accepts the transfer. Jasmine arrives at Hospital A outside of the time window for mechanical thrombectomy. 

With AI

The on-call neuroradiologist reads Jasmine’s images within 24 minutes. The neuroradiologist, ED physician, and interventional neuroradiologist at Hospital A review the images together on an AI care coordination platform. Within 10 minutes, a decision is made to transfer her to Hospital A, and an ambulance is en route to transfer Jasmine. Mechanical thrombectomy is a viable option for Jasmine, as she is being seen within the clinical window for this management option. 

The Patient Difference 

In this scenario, the type of treatment the patient undergoes is altered due to the power AI. The impact on the patient is profound in that ensuring patients are offered the most effective intervention may be time dependent. Beyond the hospital walls, patients undergoing the most clinically effective treatments will likely have better health outcomes and a decrease in associated morbidity.

Where Technology Meets Humanity

Technology and AI in the medical field pushes it to greater heights by offering innovative solutions to stagnant problems. The goal of the physician continues to be to offer patients a healthier tomorrow. The role of the physician has evolved in such a way that they play an integral role in building trust between technology and patients. A patient may be unaware that AI is intricately involved in their care, but they should feel the clinical effects of AI during their hospital stay and throughout the course of their treatment.

At Aidoc, our products are engineered with the patient in mind. From the first step of research and development, we ask ourselves how our technologies can improve the patient experience, better patient outcomes, and decrease the cost of care to patients. Our teams work side by side with physicians from day one of engineering to ensure that clinical trust and medical relevance are felt when our algorithms are deployed in a hospital setting. Our goal is to help save patient lives, one algorithm at a time.

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Ayden Jacob, MD, MSc